Cutting iron shafts to avoid heely hits

[asKaasa]

Hi guys

 

Got fit into Titleist 718 CB the other day, Project X 6.0 shafts.

The fitter wanted me to cut the shafts to get more centered hits. Does that make sense to you?

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Happy Masters week!

[Liquid_A_45]

Not enough context to answer the question.

[asKaasa]

> @Liquid_A_45 said:

> Not enough context to answer the question.

 

Honestly, I do not believe I have the knowledge to elaborate much more. Curious to know if shorter shafts might be a fix to heely hits is all.

[olperfesser]

If the fitter is asking you to cut the shafts of clubs that you already own, not good. If he is asking you to get clubs with reduced shaft length of 1/2" or 1" then that makes more sense. The custom length clubs will usually come balanced and weighted to the length, giving a good swing. If you have to cut existing shafts, besides the extra expense, there can be a balance issue as well as a swing weight difference.

[asKaasa]

> @olperfesser said:

> If the fitter is asking you to cut the shafts of clubs that you already own, not good. If he is asking you to get clubs with reduced shaft length of 1/2" or 1" then that makes more sense. The custom length clubs will usually come balanced and weighted to the length, giving a good swing. If you have to cut existing shafts, besides the extra expense, there can be a balance issue as well as a swing weight difference.

 

Thanks! He fit me into new clubs, 1/2” short.

[asKaasa]

I am 5,9 btw.

[Fourrrr]

Make sure you have Titleist bring the swing weight back up to spec or whatever swing weight you choose.

[Krt22]

Why not just chokeup and see if it helps.

[Zitlow]

If you're hitting your irons off the heel maybe they're too upright. Hopefully a club fitter would know that.

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Hitting off the heel? Stand a little farther from the ball.

[rgk5]

It is a possible fix but not as good as the proper shaft with the correct length.

[Nessism]

Shortening your existing clubs by butt cutting 1/2" off the shaft is fine. It's debatable as to whether that will improve center contact though. While the grips are off to shorten you can add tungsten/lead powder followed by a cork to restore lost swingweight. A pretty simple project for a decent builder.

[asKaasa]

@Nessism

The swingweight will be restored in the building process.

 

@rgk5

The fitter meant this was the proper shaft and length for me. What do you mean?

[BottleCap]

What irons are you currently playing?

[rgk5]

> @asKaasa said:

> @Nessism

> The swingweight will be restored in the building process.

>

> @rgk5

> The fitter meant this was the proper shaft and length for me. What do you mean?

 

It is not a proper fit when the shaft is cut from the butt end after installation, particularly if they are taper tip shafts, which they are. The swing weight and static weight will be off and they will pay slightly stiffer. It will also make the effective lie angle one degree flatter for every half inch shortened

[asKaasa]

> @BottleCap said:

> What irons are you currently playing?

 

i200

[asKaasa]

> @rgk5 said:

> > @asKaasa said:

> > @Nessism

> > The swingweight will be restored in the building process.

> >

> > @rgk5

> > The fitter meant this was the proper shaft and length for me. What do you mean?

>

> It is not a proper fit when the shaft is cut from the butt end after installation, particularly if they are taper tip shafts, which they are. The swing weight and static weight will be off and they will pay slightly stiffer. It will also make the effective lie angle one degree flatter for every half inch shortened

 

As far as I know they are to be built from scratch. I was told Titleist would adjust the weight in the building.

 

So. I should find another fitter and redo it?

[Nessism]

5'9" would typically fit into standard length irons unless you have short legs or long arms. You might want to check fit using Ping's program as available on their website. Key thing is to carefully measure wrist height while wearing golf shoes.

 

Regarding clubs 1/2" short improving heel strikes, that begs the question whether choking up 1/2" improves heel strikes? Also, do you strike your 7 iron on the heel but center strike the 8 (which is 1/2" shorter")? The answer to these questions is no of course. Overall shaft length is mostly about your stance with the shortest clubs in the bag, and to a lesser extent the ability to make center contact with the longest. Shorter clubs are typically easier to center strike but again, each iron has a 1/2" length step so strike location on the face doesn't move throughout the bag by changing shaft length.

[iteachgolf]

I feel like nobody actually reads post. He clearly said he was fit and was clear these would be ordered to spec.

 

1/2” off modern lengths isn’t uncommon, you’re essentially making them the standard length from 20 years ago.

[asKaasa]

> @Nessism said:

> 5'9" would typically fit into standard length irons unless you have short legs or long arms. You might want to check fit using Ping's program as available on their website. Key thing is to carefully measure wrist height while wearing golf shoes.

>

> Regarding clubs 1/2" short improving heel strikes, that begs the question whether choking up 1/2" improves heel strikes? Also, do you strike your 7 iron on the heel but center strike the 8 (which is 1/2" shorter")? The answer to these questions is no of course. Overall shaft length is mostly about your stance with the shortest clubs in the bag, and to a lesser extent the ability to make center contact with the longest. Shorter clubs are typically easier to center strike but again, each iron has a 1/2" length step so strike location on the face doesn't move throughout the bag by changing shaft length.

 

Thanks again for your input. They really will be very similar to my current i200s, special in the shorter irons.

 

Will be interesting to test more thoroughly, and also see how the weaker lofts and shorter shafts will affect distances.

[I_HATE_SNOW]

Did he offer an explanation as to why this would work? Is your lie angle off?

[asKaasa]

> @I_HATE_SNOW said:

> Did he offer an explanation as to why this would work? Is your lie angle off?

 

He did not, and as I am not a swing/tech expert I did not think to ask I am afraid. It seemed to work though!

[carrera]

"Back in the day", this was a method of determining proper shaft length during fittings. Impact tape on the face was analyzed to determine whether the shaft was too long (strikes toward heel) or too short (strikes toward the toe). Hopefully the fitter had you hit some irons that were shorter to determine if this is really a "fitting" issue rather than a swing issue.

[rgk5]

> @iteachgolf said:

> I feel like nobody actually reads post. He clearly said he was fit and was clear these would be ordered to spec.

>

> 1/2” off modern lengths isn’t uncommon, you’re essentially making them the standard length from 20 years ago.

 

asKaasaasKaasa Fred FåkkåpzMembers Posts: 28 ✭✭ April 10

Hi guys

 

**Got fit into Titleist 718 CB the other day, Project X 6.0 shafts.

The fitter wanted me to cut the shafts to get more centered hits. Does that make sense to you?

Thanks in advance!**

 

Where does his post say he ordered them cut that way?

[asKaasa]

> @carrera said:

> "Back in the day", this was a method of determining proper shaft length during fittings. Impact tape on the face was analyzed to determine whether the shaft was too long (strikes toward heel) or too short (strikes toward the toe). Hopefully the fitter had you hit some irons that were shorter to determine if this is really a "fitting" issue rather than a swing issue.

 

Right! Thanks! I guess I could have brought this up sooner, this was the method used to determine this. Should have brought it up sooner I guess, just not too familiar with the entire fitting process. Hence the initial question.

[iteachgolf]

> @rgk5 said:

> > @iteachgolf said:

> > I feel like nobody actually reads post. He clearly said he was fit and was clear these would be ordered to spec.

> >

> > 1/2” off modern lengths isn’t uncommon, you’re essentially making them the standard length from 20 years ago.

>

> asKaasaasKaasa Fred FåkkåpzMembers Posts: 28 ✭✭ April 10

> Hi guys

>

> **Got fit into Titleist 718 CB the other day, Project X 6.0 shafts.

> The fitter wanted me to cut the shafts to get more centered hits. Does that make sense to you?

> Thanks in advance!**

>

> Where does his post say he ordered them cut that way?

 

Because he clearly said he was fit into new clubs and he stated they would be built to spec by Titleist. You also clearly missed where he said this was a fitting and you told him he wasn’t being fit into the proper shaft at the proper length.

 

 

You’re literally proving my point about not reading post and lack of reading comprehension. If you want me to quote all the post above yours in which he makes it painfully clear this was a fitting where he was properly fit to clubs at a proper length and these were new clubs being built to spec by Titleist I can.

[jshuff]

> @asKaasa said:

> > @olperfesser said:

> > If the fitter is asking you to cut the shafts of clubs that you already own, not good. If he is asking you to get clubs with reduced shaft length of 1/2" or 1" then that makes more sense. The custom length clubs will usually come balanced and weighted to the length, giving a good swing. If you have to cut existing shafts, besides the extra expense, there can be a balance issue as well as a swing weight difference.

>

> Thanks! He fit me into new clubs, 1/2” short.

 

I play my irons 1/2” short but I’m also only 5’7”.

[baloo]

How tall you are is not the only determinant of shaft length. There's nothing crazy about -.5 inches for someone 5'9". Any good factory or custom builder will assemble the clubs to your specs and account for things like SW, so I don't see any reason for concern.

If the results were good with the recommended club and specs, there's nothing to worry about. If the recommended club didn't perform, don't buy it. It's really that simple IMO. As far as the heel strikes, did they improve or not with the recommended club? You should know based on the fitting session.

[rgk5]

> @iteachgolf said:

> > @rgk5 said:

> > > @iteachgolf said:

> > > I feel like nobody actually reads post. He clearly said he was fit and was clear these would be ordered to spec.

> > >

> > > 1/2” off modern lengths isn’t uncommon, you’re essentially making them the standard length from 20 years ago.

> >

> > asKaasaasKaasa Fred FåkkåpzMembers Posts: 28 ✭✭ April 10

> > Hi guys

> >

> > **Got fit into Titleist 718 CB the other day, Project X 6.0 shafts.

> > The fitter wanted me to cut the shafts to get more centered hits. Does that make sense to you?

> > Thanks in advance!**

> >

> > Where does his post say he ordered them cut that way?

>

> Because he clearly said he was fit into new clubs and he stated they would be built to spec by Titleist. You also clearly missed where he said this was a fitting and you told him he wasn’t being fit into the proper shaft at the proper length.

>

>

> You’re literally proving my point about not reading post and lack of reading comprehension. If you want me to quote all the post above yours in which he makes it painfully clear this was a fitting where he was properly fit to clubs at a proper length and these were new clubs being built to spec by Titleist I can.

 

Miscalculation. When he posted that the fitter "wanted **me** to cut the shafts", I assumed he already had the clubs. I did not read the further posts.